cemetery
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She returns to the houseafter the funeral,alone for the first timein weeks.She exhales onto the couch;a sadness of flowerssurrounds her. This is the silencethat is not silence: the refrigerator hums; the traffic grumbles; her heart beats. This… Continue reading
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Mom’s Birthday, February 28, 2013
She would have turned 93,were she alive. Is it okay to say,"Today my mother turns 93,"or can one no longer say this,when the body is gone?In such cases,there is nothing to turn 93.A buried box of ashes?Even that likely no… Continue reading
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This Garden
This garden,hidden up the hillabove the oldest gravestones,has a gate but no fence. I enter through the gate,though it means extra stepsaround the overgrown perimeter. This gardenis lush with silver leaves–no flowers, no buds preparing to open, no dried… Continue reading
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Stopped Dead
Stopped dead between headstones,dry leaves drifting over my shoes,I scan, rescan the engraved letters.This century-old epitaph could be mine. I feel like Scrooge sighting along the bony fingerof his future ghost. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All… Continue reading
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Halloween: Mystery
Halloween offers appreciation for the mysterious, that which lies outside of logic and reason. This is, in fact, an important and necessary function of religion; embracing mystery and the inexplicable reflects healthy spirituality. Not everything can be–nor needs to be–sorted out, rationalized, categorized… Continue reading
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Halloween: Embracing Mortality
It's autumn. The earth turns away from the sun, and the days shorten. Winter lurks, shivering and lonely, just around the corner. Trees abandon their leaves, turning inward, bracing themselves. The plants we so carefully cultivated throughout the summer… Continue reading